Leather-sorting machine



June 17, 1930. H. E. JOHNS LEATHER SORTING momma 2 Sheets-Sheet FiledJune 29, 1929 "n s P M a Y W x .1 j m m. m? u u u n j F l L M 8 MR H! mmWM nu June 17, 1930. H. E. JOHNS LEATHER SORTING MACHINE Filed June 29,1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 war-6x071- a a 5: 1 "I Patented June 17, 1930HAROEUD E Joirastor mnsnowmg'PaN simvAN A Assmma TO covEsa ooMPANY',

OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVKNTA, A ramma an consismm or THOMAS) oovmz, maAND" THOMAS 1 (5. BA-moN,

Boris OFBRYN" MAWR; PENNSYLVANIA,

AND BERNABD JJsEGNi; or 'ivr EaI'oN; r'nNi syivaNrAg AND HIMSELNApplieation filed June 29,

Thisiinvention relates to sorting machines and, more particularly, to amachine for sorting'leather sole blanks of the type now in common use, 7As s well known to tion' of the hide from which the blank] is formed andthe present p'racticeis to employ a gauge having'fan angular notch inwhich the edge of; the i bla'nlr' is inserted to deterrn'ine'thetliick'n'ess. Obviously, blanks eni ployle'dfupon" a"pair ofsh'oes'must'be of the same thicki ies's and this' sorting is furthernecessaryfdue to thefac't that blanks of difi'er-i ent thicknessesnaturally have dilferent- Weigllts and "accordingly mustbe sold for'di'fi'erent prices; An important object of v the'present invention, isthe provision of a structjurefor automatically sorting such I H m, Iblanks and deliver ng themto recelvers.

invention is the provision! of a thickness c gaugehaving alongitudinally-extending slot varying'in' Width from end to end, havingassociatedtherew'ltha 'means for causing the blanks to traveltherealong; the, blank pass ing through the gauge when it arrives at -apoint such that its size permitsit to do so.

y Afur'tlier obj ectojf the :inventionis the provision of a constructionsuch; that the blank;

once it begins its'passag e. through" the thickness gauge,-i s rapidlydrawn therethrough' so-that'there is no danger 'ofitfs being' shiftedbythe conveyingi'mechan-isin ,--to 'a point Where it willenter a receiverother than thatin', which it belongs.- M

A l stilll-further object of the invention is 1 to provideyin apparatusof this char acten a 1 gauge constructioneliminating, in so farp'ossible,=the resi'staiice to thepassage "of the is movedithereal'ongzlThese and 'other' objects; the" n r c io hbw fi 'j ll iiac p' p ydrawings wlie1e'in', 'for the "purp i of illusl elnbodi tration;' have;shown "a preferri Of my; mr ntwn ndi W 1??? i Fig. 1 1s a frontele'vatlon'ofa sorting ma- H those familiar with thevv art, thethicknessofsole leather in such blanks varies considerably, depending.upon the por 1929. Serial No. 374,875.

chine co t structed in accordance with my in-venti n;* I 7 F'g aji isanendelevation thereof;

Fig; 13 is 'a' section online"3 8 of Fig: 1; and v I V Fig.= 4 is asection onglineoff-Fig; 1.- .JReferring now nore' particularly to thedrawings, numerals 10 and 11 designate spaced supporting-standards; Journaled in-"- vthe standards 10 and 11 adjacent theupper' ends thereofare upperand lower'pairs of rollers 12 and 13. Rollers 12 areconstructed and arrangedto provide therebetween a gap" 14 whichincreases in width from 'end'to end of the rollers. This gap may beproduced either bysmounting the rollers with their axes diverging or bytapering the rollers longi- I titudi'nally; Rollers :13 may havetheir'axesparallel and may afford therebetween a'gap 15 which is uniformin Width; although it is:

preferrecL-as in the case of the rollers l2, that A"furtherand 'morespecific object of the it increase in width; The gap 15, "however','

willbe of less widthiat any given point thanthegap 1 1 at the samepoint.

,Arranged above'the rollers 12 and 13 and supported from standards 10-and; 1 1 are,- vertically s'paced pairs of guides 16 and .175;

these guides aligning with the gapbetween the roHersin'such fashionthata blank 18 disposed}therebetween is. guided into the spacebetwenrollers 12" and is aligned with? theispacefbetween rollers 13. Theguides16 and 17 J are connected at spaced intervals 7 by'vertic'ally-extendingstandards 19 which;

at one'side' oftheguiding structure thus produced, maybe ofli'se'toutwardly; as at 20,t0 provide seatsfora'guide-rail 21' in-the form;Oran angle. ironi The horizontal-flange 22" of this iron supports onerun" of a conveyor T 9D aboutsprocket'wheels 24' and 24 'mounted in f ar t" ll- 't d'n b r' db thefi 1 blank-result1ngfroni frl 'c't 'onpas theblank 1 lea y ex en 1 g ea lugs Carne y standards 10 and 11; i r Thesprocket wheel 24 1 is secured' toa' shaft uponcthe lower en'd'of which;ismjounted a bevelled gear '25. s

Associated; with: the standard 10 is a drivingamotor 26 which; throughsuitable gearing pperatesm nlaindriving gear 27. Thedrlv ng gear; 27 ;1s.-l0eated-w1th 1n ,a gearcase:

28 c'arried bythe upper end of standard-1O L adjacent facesofrollers12are moving upwardly, they will tend to elevatethe blanks.

and meshes with a gear 29 secured to the end of one of the rollers 12.The other of the rollers 12 has secured thereto a gear 30 mesh- 7 ingwith gear 29 and with a gear 31 upon the end of the roller 13' lyingtherebelow. Rollers 13 inwardly of'standard 10 are provided with meshinggears 32. It will be obvious that on the rotation'of gear 27, rollers12.

will rotate in opposite directionand rollers 13 will'rotate in oppositedirections, and the rotation of corresponding rollers 12-and 13 will beopposed; The direction of rotation is such'that adjacent faces ofrollers 12 are,

moved upwardly, while those of rollers 13 5 are moved downwardly. r

The gear 29 also meshes with a gear 33 secured to one end of a shaft 34:extending through the standard and having at its inner end a bevelledgear 35 meshing with the bevelled gear 25' ofthe conveying'sprocketshaft. The conveyor chain is provided with spaced projecting flightelements 36 to engage against the sole blanks .18 as they are placedbetween the guides 16 =and 17. A rack or supporting magazine 37 isconven- ..:iently secured to the upper end of standard 10 through an arm38. In use of the apparatus, it will be obvious that as the blanks aredrawn along the rollers 12, in alignment with the slot 14 thereof atthenarrow end of the slot and cause them to travel along'this slot, theywill, upon arrival at a point where the Width of the slot is greaterthan their thickness, pass through'this slot and thus come into engagement with rollers 13 which will grip: the

blank and-cause it to be discharged downwardly. To assist in thisgripping-action, the faces of rollers 13 are preferably covered withfriction material, as indicated at 39,

and this material is preferablyof sucha nature that it is resilient.Rubber maybe conveniently employed. 7

The standards 10 and 11 are preferably employed to support receivers 40,these receivers "being atpresent illustrated the forni of chutes adaptedto discharge into movable bins generally designated in dotted 'lines'IinFig. 1. "In order that these bins may be made of sufiicient sizeto holdai rea-c son ablei quantityiofblanks and, at the same time, adequatespace imay be pr0videdtherefor, alternateflchutes 41 preferablydischarge infopposite directions,ras indicated. It will,'; 1 0i course,be obvious that this arrangement isentirely arbitrary and that othermeans ffortaking' care of thesortedtblanks than notendency -to wedge inthe slot as would" ns ordinarily be the casewere al'slot' employed thatshownmay beemployed;.

1 Attention'is directedto the fact th at since '18 with the resultthatthe blanks will have having a tapered mouth, such asis afforded bytherollers.

Since the construction illustrated is capable of a very considerablechange and modification without in' any manner departing from the spirtof my invention, I donot wish to limit myself to the specific structurea tapering slot varying in width from'end to end, a series of receiversarranged there'- beneath, means'for causing articles to shiftlongitudinally of the slot untiltheir arrival at a point where they maypass therethrough, means engaging an article after a predeterminedportion thereof has" passed through the slot and 'discharging'the sameto the underlyingreceiver, and means guidlng the article during 1tstravel along the? slotmaintaining the same in alignment with the slotand said engaging means. 3. In apparatus for sorting flat articles inaccordance with their thickness, means providing a gaugingslot Varyingin width from end to end, a series of receivers arranged 'therebeneath,means for causing,

edgewise travel of the articlelongitudinally of the slot until itsarrival at a point where it may pass therethrough;'andmeans engaging thearticle after a predetermined'portion thereof has passed through theslotan'd discharging the same to the underlying receiver. V I d V 4. Inapparatus for sorting flatarticlejsin viding a gauging slot varying inwidth from therethrough, and rotatable rollers arranged end to end, aseries of receivers arranged therebeneath, means for causing 'edgewisetravel of the article longitudinally of the slot until its arrival at apoint where'it may pass between the slot and saidreceivers for grippingan article after a predetermined portion 1 thereof has passed through.the' slot and discharging the same to the receiver.

5. In apppara'tusj forsortingflat articles in I accordance withtheir-thickness, means providing a gauging slot Varying inwidth from endto end, a series of receivers arranged' therebeneath, me'ansffor causingedgewise travel ofthearticle longitudinallyof the slot V 1 until itsarrival ata point where it may pass" 'therethrough, and'rotatablerollersarranged between the slot and receivers for grip- I 1 accordancewith their thickness, means pro Y ping an article after a predeterminedportion thereof has passed through the slot and discharging the same tothe receiver, said rollers having faces of friction material.

6. In apparatus for sorting fiat articles in accordance with theirthickness, means providing a gauging slot varying in width from end toend, a series of receivers arranged therebeneath, means for causingedgewise travel of the article longitudinally of the slot until itsarrival at a point where it may pass therethrough, and rotatable rollersarranged between the slot and said receivers for gripping an articleafter a predetermined portion thereof has passed through the slot anddischarging the same to the receiver, said rollers being faced withelastic friction material.

7. In a sorting machine, a pair of rollers combining to produce a slotvarying in width opposite directions, and means for shifting articles tobe sorted longitudinally of the upper pair of rollers in contacttherewith,

the lower pair of rollers having friction sur faces.

12. In a sorting machine, upper and lower pairs of rollers, the rollersof each pair affording a slot therebetween, the slot between the upperrollers varying in width from end HAROLD E. JOHNS.

from end to end, conveyor means for shifting articles engaging saidrollers along the same, means for rotating said rollers to causeadjacent faces to move toward articles sup ported thereby, and grippingmeans arranged beneath said rollers and engaging an article afterpartial projection thereof through the slot to complete the passage ofthe article.

8. In a sorting machine, upper and lower pairs of rollers, the rollersof each pair affording a slot therebetween, the slot between the upperrollers varying in width from end to end, means for rotating the rollersof each pair and corresponding rollers of the pairsin oppositedirections, means for maintaining the articles to be sorted in alignmentwith the slots between the rollers, and means for shifting articles tobe sorted longitudinally of-said rollers.

9. In a sorting machine, upper and lower pairs of rollers, the rollersof each pair alfording a slot therebetween, the slot between the upperrollers varying in width from end to end, means for rotating the'rollersof each pair and corresponding rollers of the pairs in oppositedirections, and means for shifting articles to be sorted longitudinallyof the upper pair of rollers in contact therewith.

10. In a sorting machine, upper and lower pairs of rollers, the rollersof each pair affording a slot therebetween, the slotbetween the upperrollers varying in width from end to end, means for rotating the rollersof each pair and corresponding rollers of the pairs in oppositedirections, means for shifting articles to be sorted longitudinally ofthe upper pair of rollers in contact therewith, and a series ofreceivers beneath said rollers and into which articles are discharged bythe lower pair of rollers.

11. In a sorting machine, upper and lower pairs of rollers, the rollersof each pairaffording a slot therebetween, the slot between the upperrollers varying in width from end to end, means for rotating the rollersof each pair and corresponding rollers of the pairs in iso

